« Day in the Life: May 4 | Main | Day in the Life: May 17 »
Tonight's talk
Sorry I'm on late...I had a glitch in my home computer. Let's see if we have this right....Please post away. R.T.
May 16, 2005 | Permalink
Comments
hey mayor - so what's up with the dfl endorsement?
Posted by: Andy | May 16, 2005 7:35:04 PM
Just a quick question. What can you do about the education system, and why are our schools not receiving money?
Posted by: Christine | May 16, 2005 7:36:30 PM
Thanks for posting Andy. It was a long day and it was clear it was deadlocked so now we will take it out to the voters. The convention took a lot longer to get started than anticipated, and it meant a lot of folks either left without registering, or after a ballot or two....but the good news as Democrats is that part of the problems of the convetion can be chalked up to a record turnout. This was the first year we could elect delegates in the election year so that had a lot to do with it....There were a lot of frustrated people there so I encourage anyone who knows a first time person there to tell them that it's not always like this and please stay involved.
Posted by: | May 16, 2005 7:39:12 PM
I'm confused about the taking the buses off of the Nicollet Mall downtown - why is that happening? Is there a way to take them off of the mall all the time?
Posted by: Kelly | May 16, 2005 7:39:14 PM
Mayor,
I like the STOP program, could you please talk more about it
Posted by: samantha | May 16, 2005 7:39:56 PM
Mayor, as a delegate to last Saturday's city convention, I just want to commend you for running a positive, issue-based, grassroots campaign. I hope we as Democrats will soon learn that this negativity only hurts our party and puts us in a weaker position to win as a party next year.
Posted by: Chris | May 16, 2005 7:39:59 PM
as a first timer i hope you're right that it's not always like that. thanks.
Posted by: Andy | May 16, 2005 7:41:03 PM
I was a delegate at the convention on Saturday, and it really bothered me that you were attacked so visciously by your opponent. I respect your ability to keep the campaign clean. What can I do, as a voter, to ensure the campaign is about the issues and not attacking fellow democrats - like the republicans do?
Posted by: Steve | May 16, 2005 7:41:41 PM
Hey Mayor,
Can you please let me know what you plan to do to make Mpls an even more bike-friendly city? I know there was talk on connecting the Grand Rounds (or something like that) to include more of Northeast Minneapolis, but have any plans been made to begin work on this? I am a bicycle-to-work commuter and my wife and I recently moved to Minneapolis from Madison - I think the existing trails we have are fine, but I live in Northeast Minneapolis and it is a somewhat difficult task getting to work this way.
Thanks for doing this - it is such a great way to keep in touch with constituents! (Our mayor in Madison did this often...)
Greg
Posted by: Greg T. | May 16, 2005 7:42:04 PM
MAYOR,
I am proud that you are our mayor. I think that you can pull it out, but for all of the people that have not had a chance to hear your vision. Please share it with us
Posted by: brett | May 16, 2005 7:42:05 PM
O.k. this is great...I'm just not posting as fast as I'd like so stick with me...keep posting and I'll take them in order.
Posted by: | May 16, 2005 7:43:13 PM
I have heard you speak about rebuilding our streetcar system, where would that be, I think it is a great idea?
Posted by: Jonathan | May 16, 2005 7:45:28 PM
First to Kelly on the buses on Nicollet Mall. The idea is to take them off the Mall at night during the summer as an experiment. My hope is to use this to eventually get where we want to...a system like Denver where we have a single, low emission vehicle on the Mall.....Instead of having bus riders come into downtown and then spend a long, long time getting through downtown...they ride into downtown, hop on the shuttle, which is faster, and get to their destination....faster for commuters, better for the pedestrian experience on the Mall. This was the plan but the funding for the shuttle was diverted by MnDot...so hope this work. Lisa Goodman helped make this happen.
Posted by: | May 16, 2005 7:46:17 PM
Okay - I gotta ask it - the stadium. Why exactly are you supporting it? I get your whole "spread the costs" thing, but if we can pass a tax for a stadium why can't we pass a tax like the gas tax for roads or a school tax to help kids?
Posted by: Lyle | May 16, 2005 7:47:40 PM
Mayor,
I am surprised by your comments about taking the election to the 'real' people. As a DFL delegate, do I not count as a real person. Maybe that is why you left early Saturday.
Posted by: Michael | May 16, 2005 7:48:23 PM
O.K., I'm getting the hang of this....I have to remember to also add my name.
To Mary re. the schools. School funding comes from the state, and they are dramatically underfunding our schools. I'm lobbying for more funding at the state, and spent a lot of time in the last election helping candidates from elsewhere who said they would make education a top, and better, the top priority for the state.
One of the other issues we have in Minneapolis is what's called Compensatory Aid....the special aid we need to address the poverty, language and other issues that come with an urban district. A challege right now in the Legislature is that some people are trying to say they will spend more on education BUT take it from our compensatory aid...which is just transferring money from our schools to those in the suburbs....so that's an important issue at play right now.
The state needs to put more into education. That's the start. There are also a number of things we can do to help with education funding....For example, last night I spoke at the fundraiser for Achieve Minneapolis, the foundation the raises money for the schools. I'm on the board and have worked with a number of projects there, including raising money for the small learning communities in our high schools and arts for academic achievement. I've also worked with them on launching the Step Up summer jobs programs for our kids. I can add more to this after answering others. If you want to help, please also consider going to impactschools.org and designating the money you can send to your favorite school.
All these volunteer efforts are good but we have to keep going back to the core issue that the state is underfunding schools.
Posted by: R.T. | May 16, 2005 7:51:55 PM
Michael is right. Saying "I'm taking the election to the real people" was a sloppy quote on my part. I was trying to say that I'm excited because I get to spend the next part of the campaign doing what I like best, going door to door, at events, parades, community forums, etc. I've learned a lot from the one on one phone conversaions I've had with delegates over the past few months, but I like getting face to face with people in their own neighborhoods and I'm excited about spending the summer that way.....when I'm not locked in a room doing the budget.
Posted by: R.T; | May 16, 2005 7:55:09 PM
I am concerned about the DeLasalle Football field proposal, what is your stance on that, and what as mayor can you do?
Posted by: Erin | May 16, 2005 7:55:52 PM
I've been to Denver and their bus/trolley on their "Nicollet Mall" equivalent is great - I hope you and Lisa Goodman could make that happen here. Much better for the environment and pedestrians and much more efficient for bussers.
Thanks!!
Posted by: Kelly | May 16, 2005 7:56:17 PM
Mayor, I live in South Minneapolis and now that summer is just around the corner, I am preparing for yet another season of airport noise during family barbecues, as well as having to hear it inside my house even more because of my window air conditioning units. What is the city doing to remedy this huge annoyance?
Posted by: Susan | May 16, 2005 7:56:33 PM
As a student, I didn't like how you handled the safety sweeps last year in Como neighborhood. It removed a lot of students from the only affordable housing they could find. Then I saw you listed that as a public safety accomplishment. Explain.
Posted by: Brian | May 16, 2005 7:57:31 PM
Mayor, I'm a student at the U and I'm really worried about the possible closing of GC (General College). What is your position on that? I know it's not really your decision, but a lot of my friends and I are really worred about this.
Posted by: Kristin | May 16, 2005 8:00:58 PM
What havbe you done about affordable housing?
Posted by: Olivia | May 16, 2005 8:01:13 PM
I have a teenage daughter and I love the STEP- UP program, I wish other states would do it also
Posted by: michelle | May 16, 2005 8:02:36 PM
I heard that many folks who helped you at the 2001 convention were now helping Peter. What happend?
Posted by: Annie | May 16, 2005 8:03:48 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
